Meaning & use
appraise
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Meanings
verbtransitivebusiness
To work out how much something is worth, usually as an expert giving an official estimate.
Grammar: Takes an object: appraise the house.
Patterns
- appraise something at something
- appraise something
A jeweler came to appraise the necklace.
The house was appraised at three hundred thousand dollars.
Experts will appraise the paintings before the auction.
verbtransitive
To study someone or something carefully in order to form a judgment about its quality or success.
Grammar: Takes an object, often a situation or person: appraise the risks.
Patterns
- appraise someone's performance
- appraise a situation
Managers appraise each employee once a year.
She appraised the room with a quick glance.
We need to appraise the risks before we invest.
Word forms
| third person singular | appraises |
|---|---|
| past tense | appraised |
| past participle | appraised |
| -ing form | appraising |
Common combinations
- appraise the value
- An expert will appraise the value of the antique clock.
- appraise a property
- The bank sent someone to appraise the property.
- appraise critically
- Students were asked to appraise the study critically.
- appraise performance
- The school will appraise teacher performance in spring.
- appraise a situation
- He paused to appraise the situation before speaking.
Synonyms and how they differ
- assess
- Assess is broader and can mean judging anything, while appraise often points to putting a value on a thing.
- evaluate
- Evaluate stresses weighing evidence and is common in schools and research, whereas appraise suggests an expert opinion.
- value
- Value as a verb is plainer and shorter, but it lacks the formal, official tone of appraise.
- size up
- Size up is informal and quick, describing a fast personal judgment rather than a careful official one.
Word family
- appraisal noun
- an expert judgment of value or quality
- appraiser noun
- a person whose job is to appraise
- reappraise verb
- to judge again
- appraisable adjective
- able to be valued
Commonly confused: appraise or apprise? appraise or appraisal vs apprisal?
appraise vs apprise
Apprise means to inform someone, as in apprise him of the facts; it is not about judging value.
appraise vs appraisal vs apprisal
Only appraisal is common; apprisal is very rare and means informing.
Practice
Before selling the ring, she had a specialist ___ it.
Choose one answer.
Appraise means to estimate value. Apprise means to inform, which would need a person as its object.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “appraise”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.